Abruzzo and The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
444 km
Riding-time estimate
8 h 23
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 444 km round trip from Civitella Alfedena - roughly 8 h 23 in the saddle. On the way it passes Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing, The Via Appia at the Itri Pass, The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S and The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,250 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Abruzzo
Bears are the thing everyone asks about in Abruzzo, and the honest answer is that you probably will not see one. The Marsican brown bear, a small, isolated population, survives in the mountains of the Apennines, and the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, created in 1923, is its stronghold. The park also protects wolves, chamois and deer, and a lot of ancient beech forest, some of which is part of a group of European beech forests listed by UNESCO. Seeing a bear is rare, but a roadside sign and a bear-shaped warning tell you where you are.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Abruzzo is where the day begins. Next is Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing.
2. Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
Where the Via Appia crossed the River Garigliano, the Romans built a town, and armies have been fighting over the crossing ever since. Minturnae was founded as a Roman colony in the late fourth century BC on the border between Lazio and Campania, and its ruins lie beside the river near the modern town of Minturno: a theatre still used for summer performances, a forum, temples, baths, a stretch of the Via Appia's paving and the arches of an aqueduct striding across the fields. A small museum displays statues and finds from the site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing comes up about 110 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Via Appia at the Itri Pass.
3. The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
Ancient Rome's first great highway, the Via Appia, was begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, and it ran from Rome south to Capua and later on to Brindisi on the Adriatic. At Itri, in the hills behind the Gulf of Gaeta, it squeezes through a narrow pass between the Monti Aurunci and the sea, and the road still crosses the same gap today. A stretch of the old paved line survives near the pass, with its big, rounded basalt blocks, though you will need to get off the main road and look carefully to find it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 145 km into the recorded legs you reach The Via Appia at the Itri Pass. Next is The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S.
4. The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S
The Via Appia, the Queen of Roads, ran from Rome to Brindisi, and in 2024 UNESCO inscribed long stretches of it as a single World Heritage site. Near Mondragone, on the coast of northern Campania, the road passes the site of Sinuessa, a Roman colony that once guarded the route where it reached the sea after crossing the coastal plains from the north. Not a great deal stands above ground today, so this is a place where you read the landscape rather than tour the ruins.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S, about halfway. Next is The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae.
5. The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae
The queen of roads, the Romans called it: the Via Appia, begun in 312 BC by the censor Appius Claudius Caecus, ran from Rome to Capua and later on to Brindisi, the gateway to Greece and the East. Near Formia, the old road comes down from the hills of Itri to the coast of the Gulf of Gaeta, and a stretch of it, with its paving stones and roadside monuments, survives in the countryside. In 2024, UNESCO listed the Via Appia as a whole, and this section between the eighty-third mile from Rome and the ancient town of Formiae is one of its pieces.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S comes up about 255 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through The Via Appia at the Itri Pass.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 444 km.
Leg by leg
Abruzzo to Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
Abruzzo → Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing is 110 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing to The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → The Via Appia at the Itri Pass is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass to The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S
The Via Appia at the Itri Pass → The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S to The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae
The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S → The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae to back through The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S
The Via Appia from 83rd mile to Formiae → back through The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S to back through The Via Appia at the Itri Pass
back through The Via Appia from Sinuessa to the Pagus S → back through The Via Appia at the Itri Pass is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Via Appia at the Itri Pass to back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing
back through The Via Appia at the Itri Pass → back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing to Abruzzo
back through Minturnae and the Garigliano crossing → Abruzzo is 111 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.